Currently it seems the state of Latvia and businessmen are competitors, not partners, which is not going to head Latvia towards welfare. The government should support honest taxpayers more, while punish those who avoid them, A.A. & Būvkompānijas (A.A. & Construction Companies) representative Arvīds Apfelbaums told in an interview to the business news portal BNN.

What are the most important recent events of your industry?

What is positive in the construction sector is the fact the state and EU co-supported energy efficiency orders are surging, however this market share is not for everyone, because, according to the regulations of the tender – only builders experienced in renovation objects can participate. Similar experience in newly erected buildings does not count. There have been very few renovations in energy efficiency projects before.

Do you lack qualified workforce?

Not at the moment. Speaking about the construction sector, it is the right moment to hire new employees, although we see that many companies face difficulties in maintaining the existing staff, which is a result of many years work, forming the basis of a company.

What kind of amendments would you like to see in the legislation of Latvia?

The greatest wish is for standardized procurement regulations with clear criteria. Because at the moment there are as many regulations as procurements. This market share is completely damaged, and the question is how can you take part in this game, if the rules change all the time and there are no «referees» whom to complain to?

Do you support Latvia joining the eurozone?

But there are no other ways. When we joined the European Union, we affirmed we are a part of Europe with our own values to be cherished. Otherwise, we will not be able to survive the globalisation and compete with such key players as China and the US.

What would the state gain from that?

Feudalism ended a long time ago. We cannot exist behind such thick walls. Planet Earth we call the World is very small, so we have to take part in building houses, if we want to enjoy the welfare of the century.

How do you evaluate the government’s implemented policy to improve the economic situation?

We have wasted money, thus it will be recovered through taxes. There are businessmen behind the government’s decisions, and they are the ones to ensure tax flow through their companies. Currently it seems the state of Latvia and businessmen are competitors, not partners, which is not going to head Latvia towards welfare. The government should support honest taxpayers more, while punish those who avoid them, which is not happening at the moment.

When could Latvia return to the pre-crisis period?

It is impossible to name specific years, we must rely on the human survival instinct and hope Latvians still aspire education. There is no iron curtain any more and the achievements of our neighbours will inspire us to pull ourselves together. But I do no wish people to return to the pre-crisis period full of debts.

How do you evaluate Latvia’s competitiveness in the global markets and what should be done to boost it?

We must be economical and consider our spending. Decision taking should be discussion-based, choosing the most rational option, moreover, one should work without counting hours. We must be successful managers, as it is the only way to boost the competitiveness.

Has the current state administration consolidation been correct and sufficient? If not, what should be done differently?

I do not feel any consolidation. Over the past few years I cannot help feeling like back in the 90ies, when the state was failing to manage the functions we as people had assigned to them. So there are a lot of tasks. What I do not see is the state administration employees working as eagerly as businessmen.

In which sectors budget cuts are still possible?

In all of them, you can get the most of it, even with minimum means. To give an example – when I was in Estonia I visited a huge dairy farm with 500 cows. It was built from wooden constructions. We build such objects from metal constructions, but does that mean our cows give more milk? There are many such instances also in the public and municipal orders – to squeeze out the very last from the state, which is why we are where we are.

Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a visit this Wednesday to Kaliningrad, the westernmost point of Russia, but the reports about his trip in the Russian enclave and over the border in Lithuania were strikingly different.

Latvian airBaltic airline carried 393,312 passengers in July 2017, which is 21% more than the same period last year. The number of passengers carried by airBaltic remains the highest it has ever been in the airline’s history, BNN was informed by the company.

U.S. Air Force Brigade’s Task Force Phoenix helicopters, which are stationed in Latvia as part of Atlantic Resolve operation, will be performing low-altitude flights from 16:00 to 18:00 from Lielvarde to Dobele on Friday, 18 August.

An Indian citizen travelling from Moscow on a bus was caught at Terehovo border control point in Latvia for presenting officers a fake EU family member’s resident card. No criminal process was launched. The person returned to the country he was travelling from.

From 21 August onward, Rural Support Service plans to start accepting applications for projects to receive support from European Maritime and Fisheries Fund’s action plan for development of fisheries in 2014-2020 as part of projects Innovation, Productive Investments in Aquaculture and Fishing and Aquaculture project processing.

As the Estonian Ministry of Finance wishes to boost the reputation and brand of the Baltic country's public sector, it has announced a procurement tender aimed at preparing an action plan for reaching these goals.

Because of Swedbank’s planned IT modernization work scheduled for the night to Thursday, 17 August, there may be short term problems with payment card and internet banking functionality, the bank warns.

If he became chairman of Unity, Economy Minister Arvils Aseradens would mobilize democratic forces to prevent the possibility of either Aivars Lembergs or Nils Usakovs becoming prime ministers, Aseradens said in an interview to 900 seconds programme of LNT.

The co-founder of the U.S. computer software firm Microsoft, Bill Gates, has allocated to charity 4.6 billion U.S. dollars (3.9 billion euros), which is the philanthropist's highest donation since the year 2000.

Latvia and Russia will exchange 7,000 universal permits for international cargo transports in 2017. This will be the largest universal permit volume in the past 15 years, as reported by Road Directorate.